The present invention relates in general to a component car system and method for making the same and more particularly to a novel system of car components adapted to enable persons to build a new car having the appearance of a classic or antique car such as a "Tucker".
The method of making automobiles has evolved over the years from the practice of crafting motor vehicles one at a time to assembly in a piecemeal fashion in an assembly line manned by human operators whereby the various chassis components such as parts of the suspension system, steering system, driveline elements and the engine were added to the vehicle-frame as it progressed from station to station to the present practice of preassembling subassemblies incorporating portions of the body and frame that are attached to other portions of the frame. In spite of the ever-increasing variety of automobiles currently available due in large part to the aforementioned increased efficiency of the production process, a significant portion of the population retains an interest in antique, vintage, rare and/or unusual automobiles which are only available to the general public in limited quantities. Typically such automobiles are inaccessible for the average vintage automobile aficionado due to the exorbitant cost or are unavailable because of scarcity. In addition, many of these automobiles were not well constructed as originals, due to poor materials, engineering and/or workmanship. As a result, even a collector fortunate enough to own an "original" antique or vintage car can not operate the vehicle on the road because of safety concerns and/or for fear of damaging the original parts. In such cases the original parts of the automobile are inevitably replaced with replica or stock parts. However, retrofitting such vehicles with new parts is typically difficult and costly, often requiring custom fitting or fabrication of each part with no guarantee that the replacement parts will render the vehicle roadworthy or provide an acceptable degree of aesthetic appeal.
In an effort to increase the general availability and accessibility of vintage automobiles, automobile "kits" have been provided which consist of nothing more than a series of prefabricated panels that are intended to be mounted by a purchaser onto an existing stock chassis to replicate the appearance of a particular automobile. Such kits generally provide poor imitation shells of the automobiles which they are intended to replicate and when assembled on a stock chassis do not provide an automobile well-suited for operation on the street. The alternative to kit cars is for an enthusiast to custom build a desired vintage car from scratch. The cost of such a venture is prohibitive.
Therefore, for the vintage car enthusiast who wishes to build his or her own car, a need exists for a component car consisting of modular body components which can be shipped to and subsequently assembled by the enthusiast without the need for reengineering the vehicle or contracting to have the vehicle built from the ground up.
Many classic automobiles have been the subject of kits, including for example the Auburn, Cord, and Ford Cobra. However, it is heretofore unknown to remanufacture a classic car known as the "Tucker Torpedo", also known as the "Tucker 48" according to the apparatus and method disclosed herein. Only fifty "Tuckers" were ever produced, making it one of the rarest of production automobiles. One effort to produce a car having the outward appearance of the "Tucker" was undertaken for the purpose of providing a prop for a movie dramatizing the life of the manufacturer of the "Tucker". However, the automobile resulting from that effort was merely an ordinary stock chassis having a body shell in the shape of the "Tucker". The body shell was not operable in that it was not able to be driven on the street, the windows did not work and the doors could not be opened.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an assembly of modular components which provide a novel system for providing a replica automobile body which is better constructed than the original automobile upon which it is based.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a component car body capable of housing all of the refinements of a modern automobile yet having the appearance of a vintage automobile.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a component system which when assembled provides a replica of the body of the "Tucker Torpedo" or "Tucker 48".
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a component system consisting of modular body components capable of being shipped to a customer and assembled by the customer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for assembling the components of the present component car system.
These and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.